Stormbringer
by StormySkrill
Summary: Hiccup is an irritation to Berk, much like his namesake. In an attempt to remedy his title of Useless, Gobber gives him a pair of knives, and Hiccup heads into the forest to test them out - instead, stumbling upon a gruesome scene. The mangled and etched bones, the uplifted earth, the blood-stained vests and the lone egg in a clutch of smashed ones. AU.
1. Nothing to Hit

**Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train your Dragon. It belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell.**

* * *

 **Chapter One - Nothing to Hit**

* * *

 _Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. Dri-_

The quiet pitter-patter of the late afternoon rain's rhythm was broken by a loud sound, emanating from the horn that their ancestors had carved in resemblance to one of the first breed of dragons they had encountered - the mighty Thunderdrum. The deep boom that signaled a dragon raid continued to reverberate through the air, and was soon joined by an accompaniment of Berkian Viking Battle Cries.

A young and thin boy, son of Chief Stoick the Vast, and - much to the Viking's disappointment - the heir of the Hairy Hooligans was in a mad dash to get to the forge on time, as the last time he was regrettably late by one minute, and Gobber had a talk with him, and the boy vividly remembered the last few words he had said: "If you're late one more time, I'll burn your back room down and lock you in it! I'm serious!"

The small and fragile boy visibly shuddered at the thought of his back room being destroyed, as he used it as a place to get away from life, a place to draw up some new projects that he would never have enough time to finish and it was also the storage room of a secret keepsake he had from when his life was simpler, when his father had loved him for being, well, 'all of this'. As the boy speeded into the forge - on time, mind you - he quickly sharpened the spare weapons that they had received this morning via a generous donation with speed, efficiency and deadly precision, before running into the back room before the raid started to check on his special keepsake.

As he opened the door, he pulled out an outcropping in the wall - that he had made - and pulled out a pristine and tiny bow and quiver of three arrows; a gift his dad had given him for his seventh or eighth birthday, or somewhere around there. He couldn't make out the exact date he had received it, as Stoick made no nod to them in any of their recent conversations, which mostly consisted of 'son, you have to grow up' and a few of 'I couldn't be any less disappointed in you'. Hiccup supposed that his dad thought they were ashes, or in pieces by now. The boy always checked it before a raid, because recently, he carved in a silhouette of a four leaved clover to one of the ends of it. After giving it a quick clean up and hastily putting it back into its rather clean hiding spot, he ran out the door.

And predictably, the screams had started, along with cries of "Glory or death!" and an occasional "flowers and rainbows" springing from the mouths of the near-five hundred residents that the village sustained. The fire brigade was out there too, made up of the other teenagers around his age, lead by Astrid Hofferson.

'Oh, their jobs are so much cooler,' thought Hiccup, checking if anyone was looking before attempting to rush out of the smithy before being hooked - literally - by a certain Gobber the Belch. His name was well deserved. Yak dung would be like the scent of a wildflower from Wild Dragon if you smelled the guy's barf.

"Aye, Hiccup, no escapin' is one of my rules, ya' know," joked Gobber, as he set Hiccup down into the perimeters, blocking the only exit and entrance.

"Well, Gobber you see," started Hiccup, thinking up an excuse. "I need to see Gothi quickly, see I got this cut and-" Gobber silenced him and swiftly answered, "We have wound wraps in here you know," while grinning at his apprentice. "Anyway, you might like something I prepared for you!" Gobber pushed Hiccup into his little corner near the sharpening stone. He also left a hefty pile of swords that were especially sharp, as if just laying a gentle finger on a sharp edge for a second would draw blood. There was a note carefully placed on top of the pile.

 _Hiccup._

 _Pick any that suits your fancy,_

 _I'm sure you'll need it someday._

 _Gobber._

As the boy shuffled through the pile of weapons, he carefully inspected each and every single one of the weapons, but none of them were specially shaped, which he knew might be a key design advantage and they were all heavy, and that wasn't good. He needed a lightweight weapon that could swiftly be moved with precision but a weapon that would be able to inflict damage to a degree.

As Gobber walked in, expecting him to be holding a weapon and testing it out, he instead found a sighing Hiccup with one of his palms on his hand. As he stood up, he shook his head, while looking at the pile.

"Hey Gobber, none of these seem to really," Hiccup said, while making a slight crescent curve with one of his fingers. "...have the shape I need. And they're really heavy." Gobber pondered for a bit, before he got an idea.

"Johann's supposed to arrive tomorrow, y'know. Maybe I can find some weapons that would fit you a bit more," Gobber mused, turning his back to Hiccup. "C'mon, the request station's overrun with weapons, and Stoick has called me to battle." Gobber smirked before his expression morphed into a stern look. "Don't touch anything, just sharpen. And whatever you do, don't get out of the smithy." Gobber turned around, yelling out the standard Berkian Battle Cry.

As he gave each Viking who was waiting a weapon while he dumped the swords onto the ground, he came across an exotic weapon he hadn't seen before, which he hid and made a mental note to ask Gobber about it later.

* * *

A loud thirty minutes had passed, and no one had asked for new weapons, so he secretly snuck out with one of his secret projects, which he called the Mangler. As he pushed it up the clearing, he locked it in place with a special metal 'leg' that extended into the ground to lock itself in place. As he aimed, he muttered under his breath.

"Give me something to hit, something to hit.."

There was something definitely there, but Hiccup didn't see that black silhouette dash right across where he could hit.

* * *

"Do you have any idea what you did?" asked Stoick the Vast, Hiccup's father. "Do you know how much lives you could have taken away?" Hiccup shook his head in shame once more. "You left the blacksmith unattended, and the amount of people clamoring for someone to get them another weapon was _**staggering**_!"

"I'm.. sorry," whispered Hiccup. "I-I didn't... know."

The chief shook his head, thinking of a way to punish the boy for his trouble-making. Something would have to be done about him.

* * *

 **A / N**

Did you guys notice the first major change in this AU? I seriously hope you did. If you noticed it, congratulations, here's some virtual cookies!

 **(::) (::) (::) (::) (::)**

Of course, I'm a fat slop, so I ate them all. **(If anyone knows where that came from I will cry)** But anyways, this is my first fanfiction, so I could really use some feedback and constructive criticism. No flames please! _Don't you bloody dare give me a flame._ But drop a review, would you? Again, I could use the feedback!

 _Till Next Time,_

StormySkrill.


	2. Are You Stalking Me?

**Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train your Dragon. It belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell.**

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 **Chapter Two - Are You Stalking Me?**

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Stoick left the thought blank as he not-so-quietly clambered into his room, causing thumps to bounce around the house like a child who saw a dragon for the first time; always wanting to find a better place to 'hide' from it.

Hiccup quietly trudged (can you do that?) up the stairs, opening the door to his loft-room. He halfheartedly patted the bed in an effort to straighten the sheets, before falling, unconscious, onto the bed.

* * *

 **One Day Later..**

The docks were filled to the brim with people, after someone had spotted a ship with an elixir imprinted onto its sails - a sign of a trader, maybe better yet, Trader Johann, the person every single island (even Outcast Island) wanted to see in their surrounding territory. As everyone cleared to allow space for the trader, he set a plank of wood from the docks to a small opening in his ship. Many people were peering into the ship's contents from the docks, but after a few minutes, many people had already dispersed, growing impatient.

Gobber was the first to step out of the crowd, hauling a crate of mead and holding a pair of strange weapons. As Hiccup drew closer, he held both of the weapons out, handle to Hiccup, saying, "Maybe you'll like this."

"What.. is it?"

"They're called Kukri Knives. Johann says when he was trading farther to the east, someone gave to him as thanks. He said it was from a place called... Ne-pal?" (Gobber pronounced it Ne-pal instead of Ne-pawl) "Try it out will ya'?" Gobber said before continuing to haul the crate of mead to their Meade Hall.

"Nepal?" Hiccup whispered quietly to himself, wracking his brain for any mention of that place anywhere. 'No, never heard of it,' Hiccup mentally sighed. 'I might as well test out my new... weapons. Gods that sounds so weird.'

As Hiccup was strolling into the woods to find a nice place to try out the new kukri knives, Astrid spotted him going into the forest- with weapons? Weapons? With Hiccup? Since when did Hiccup get weapons?

'Oh gods, this is gonna end _super_ horrendously wrong, so I might as well follow him,' Astrid thought to herself, before coming closer to Hiccup - careful not to give herself away - as she started following Hiccup's path.

* * *

The path to his destination turned out to wind around a lot, like this twisty snake in a saga she had heard from Gobber... what was it's name? 'It started with a J,' Astrid recalled as she silently followed the small boy through the woods. 'Jor... Jormunga... Jormungandr? Yeah, or the Midgard Serpent? Or was it both?' As Astrid contemplated these things, she was starting not to pay attention to where she was going, but she still had sight of Hiccup so she was still following him.

Hiccup neared a small opening in the forest trail to Raven Point, but didn't stop moving to rest, as the kukri knives' weight were nothing compared to the other weapons from that weapon pile last night, which allowed him to move more freely than some - other, specific weapons. Hiccup glared at nothing as he remembered the night before.

'Like that mace,' Hiccup thought to himself, still remembering the near death encounter he had with the weapon. The boy unnaturally shuddered at the thought, before noticing a stick in his path, and carefully stepping over it. As he neared the end of the forest clearing, he heard quite a distinct noise.

 _Snap._

* * *

We stepped out into a moderately big clearing.

Before Hiccup had even made it across _half_ of the clearing, Astrid noticed that the small boy had stepped over something, probably a small crack - typical for him. She cleared the thought from her head before continuing to follow Hiccup to... where ever he was going.

Hiccup neared the closing of the clearing, observed Astrid with relief. It was so lucky that he didn't think to look back as he was crossing the clearing. 'In the tight space of the path, he'll have an even lesser chance of seeing me if I stay far enough away.'

Astrid brought here foot down, and for a split second, felt a small pressure on the sole of her boot, and as her foot came crashing down onto the floor, she realized what Hiccup had stepped over. Looking down, she saw a shattered stick, and quickly looked up at a surprised Hiccup.

His expression quickly folded over from an expression of shock and surprise into an expression Astrid hadn't thought the fragile boy was capable of achieving - anger and accusation.

"Are you stalking me?"

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 **A / N**

Hope you guys enjoyed the second chapter of 'Stormbringer'! This chapter marks the first cliffhanger I have ever put in a story, yay! It isn't much of a cliffie, I'm pretty sure, but I _think_ it counts as a cliffhanger? Is it? This means that I will save two virtual cookies for you guys!

 **(::) (::) [Yours] | (::) (::) (::)**

Of course, I'm a fat slop, so I'm going to eat the rest, but maybe, just maybe, if you go and favorite me as an author quick enough, you might be able to eat them before me (but then I'll just bake more cookies to eat in front of your face). But anyways, be sure to drop a review, and maybe even a favorite? Or maybe just a follow. Please? Remember to keep alert for the next chapter!

Oh and just saying, to anyone who's wondering about it, I will update my stories sporadically, and as soon as I finish them, no changing that. That can easily range from one hour difference updates to one year difference updates (not that I'll take a year for a chapter or anything).

 **[ By the way, I was kidding about the Favorite Me as An Author Thing, but if you really want to anyway, you can have this secret cookie: (::) ]**

 _Till Next Time,_

StormySkrill.


	3. Etchings

**Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train your Dragon. It belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell.**

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 **Chapter Three - Etchings**

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 _Please Note - Gruesome Scene Ahead_

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Of all people, _Astrid_ was the person who had followed him this time. It was more commonly Fishlegs, his one and only fellow Outcast - he didn't mind his company at all. Instead of the normally nerdy person whose title had been proved himself by spurting dragon facts, at heart he was also an Outcast, albeit less of an Outcast then Hiccup, due to his Viking-like stature and appearance.

Sometimes it had been the twins - he didn't even have to look to know that one. Their footsteps were so naturally uncoordinated that when they had followed him for the first time, Hiccup would have trouble figuring out who the two other footfalls belonged to - if they were quiet. As such, silence is too big a thing to ask of the twins.

Once, and only once, it had been Snotlout, who had actually taken the precaution to time his footsteps in rhythm to Hiccup's. Hiccup had to turn around to find out who had followed him this time.

But even he had been more careful than Astrid the Fierce, as most of the village had called her. Hiccup was expecting Astrid to follow him this time, as he was holding weapons, but hadn't been sure if she would. Now he had found out.

Forcing himself to change his expression from what he expected to be interpreted as accusation back into a hard glare. The look wasn't as piercing and dangerous, but it still wasn't flowers and rainbows.

"I said. Are. You. Stalking. Me," Hiccup elicited, a hiss in his tone of venom. Astrid slowly backed off, clearly worried about what was happening. No one knew about Hiccup's extremely tiny dangerous side. But as small as it was, it apparently seemed to be more furious than a dragon's rage.

"Uh, um, well," Astrid stammered out, close to one of the exits out of the clearing. She was near the one leading back to the village.

'This so totally not Astrid,' Hiccup told himself, before turning his back to Astrid, who was drawing nearer and nearer to one of the clearing's exits. Hiccup sighed out loud and then spoke, "Yes, Astrid. Yes you are."

Hiccup walked away, deeper into the forest.

* * *

 _A Thor-forsaken stick had caused her to be discovered. A stick of all things. If she had to choose anything to banish from Midgard at this moment, it would be all of the sticks on Midgard._

 _(I have a feeling I used 'stick' way to many times in those three sentences.)_

Hiccup softened his murderous look, which morphed into a soft glare. His glare hardened slightly as he spoke. "I said. Are. You. Stalking. Me," Hiccup repeated, every word dripping with venom and intimidating, and the wild, dangerous look in his eyes made it oh-so much worse. Astrid thought that only Stoick could make himself look like this. It must run in the family.

Then realizing she still had yet to answer Hiccup's question, she started to stammer - the fear of every last Hofferson. "Uh, um, well," Astrid managed to squeak out in reply. She felt so tiny and hopeless in comparison to Hiccup's expression.

As she backed away, Hiccup turned his back to her, heading for the opening that led deeper into the Berk Forests. "Yes, Astrid. Yes you are," he answered to himself.

I ran back to the village, not wanting to experience his concealed wrath a second time.

* * *

The path closed the further and further Hiccup got into the forest, before he stepped out into a second clearing - albeit, this one was much, _much_ more grim than the first clearing, where he had discovered Astrid following him.

When the strangely unfamiliar sunlight hit his face, he knew something was off. The boy could feel the despair that lingered in the small patch. He had never seen this place before, so he must've taken a wrong turn somewhere.

As soon as he took a step back, he heard something crunch. Looking down, he saw a large white item laying plainly on the fertile soil that garlic grass was normally found in. The bone... had markings on it, and they were Nordic runes. What the runes read was another clue to what happened here.

 _Birds of a feather.. die together._

Birds of a feather? Hiccup was almost certain that the bone was that of... a dragon. As he stood up, scanning the area very carefully, he took a step closer to the strange overhang that towered over everything else in the area, except the trees that closed off most of the clearing.

Hiccup heard another crunch - another dragon bone. Looking down once more, he observed that ' _Birds of a feather.. die together.'_ was also carved into the bone. Still puzzled of what the etchings related to, he started to run toward the overhang, each of his steps falling heavy and accompanied with another sound as his boot's sole didn't touch the ground.

 _Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

But as he neared the cave, the crunches were softened and all together stopped. Something was still off. The ground felt slippery, like cloth and fabric... And the boy looked down (once more), the bloodied vests on the ground which his feet were on. Paying no mind - or at least trying to - to the dread brewing in himself, he climbed up the overhang, looking down at the clearing one more time.

Bones - everywhere. Vests - splattered in several places but most crowded near the base of the overhang. Fire marks and uplifted earth - what the Hel had happened here? Hiccup ducked into one of the openings in the rock, the one that was illuminated the best.

Two complete skeletons of dragons greeted him as he climbed into the 'cave'. Their skulls were mangled and torn beyond recognition or identification of the species, and four wing membranes were lying on the floor, the dry blood caking where the flaps had been ripped from skin. Each and everyone of their bones were etched... the same sequence of runes from the bones outside.

The realization hit him harder than his dad's punches. This... place. It had been home to a family of dragons - wiped out in a single blow. All of the family members had died - presumably all the same species. The two skeletons were curled around something, their bloodied rib cages covering a bundle of sticks and leaves - a nest? As Hiccup carefully removed a few bones from the rib cages of the two dragons, he got a full view of the nest.

Shattered eggs - everywhere, yolk stale and - wait a minute. Was that an intact egg? He grabbed it out of the nest, heavier than he had expected, but not heavier than his kukri knives. He had long since finished practicing with them. He looked down and carefully tried to find a pathway down the small heap of rocks without shattering the egg.

'Wait, why am I thinking of not smashing it?' The side of Hiccup that wanted to impress his father thought as he carefully climbed down the rocks. 'Because it was the only thing that survived a massacre,' the more bright side of the boy countered. 'We might as well let it live, even if it might only survive less than a day...'

As the boy started strolling home, a deep boom resounded through the air, created by the horn that their ancestors had carved, resembling the first dragon they had encountered - a Thunderdrum. And a deep boom like that only meant one thing.

"Oh gods, please no, not a dragon raid!" Hiccup shouted as he sprinted faster, the lone egg still wrapped in his arms as they zoomed back the forest trail, desperately heading for the village.

* * *

 **A / N**

Hope you guys enjoyed the third chapter on Stormbringer! Oh, by the way, a very, very important raid is going to happen... _next_ chapter. Then the true story will start to unfold. I don't have any cookies either, so... yup. Go and enjoy these imaginary ones. **By the way, there is a poll on my profile on what you guys, the readers, want the dragon that hatches out of that egg to be.**

 _[ Insert Imaginary Cookies Here ]_

And a heads up, I changed the summary because the arc that I had planned out was just not working with me. So... I completely redesigned where I want this story to go. Please note - a night fury, specifically Toothless may or may not appear in this story. Sorry Toothless lovers, just in case he doesn't appear! But seriously, I've been debating the pros and cons of this:

 ** _Pros :_**

 ** _\- Cuteness_**

 ** _\- Adorable_**

 ** _\- Cuteness_**

 ** _Cons :_**

 ** _\- Not Easy to Shoehorn into Story_**

 _Till Next Time,_

StormySkrill.


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